What extra or "hidden" costs should we watch for with an IT provider?

The honest answer is that most "hidden" IT costs aren't really hidden — they're just not asked about up front. The single best question you can put to any provider is: "what's in, and what's out?" Get it in writing.

Where surprise costs usually hide

• Onboarding / setup fees — some providers charge one to two months of service just to take you on.
• Project and migration hours billed on top — a cloud migration, a server replacement, an office move.
• After-hours and on-site call-out surcharges — a weekend outage becoming an expensive emergency rate.
• Per-user or per-device add-ons that aren't clear in the headline price.
• "Security" that's monitoring only — antivirus and alerts, but not the MFA, patching, backups and training that actually protect you.
• Exit or offboarding fees if you ever leave.

How we do it instead

We price as a transparent per-user monthly fee with a written list of exactly what's included, so day-to-day support never comes with a surprise bill. Genuinely out-of-scope work (a big project, new hardware) is quoted and agreed before we start, never sprung on you afterwards. There's no exit fee for a reasonable departure, and no long lock-in. See our Perth MSP pricing guide for the full picture, or call (08) 9325 1196 for a clear quote.